Categories: All, Community design, Creativity, Design, Event

Hi! Just when you thought that I have disappeared from the blog world I am here again with a new post. It has been a long time since my latest post, I know. It has happened so much, and I have not had the time.

A lot of my effort has been focused on the Swedish Association of Designers, where I have been the Chairman since 2011. We have been developing the organization and I have been around at meetings with ministries and institutions, and representing in Sweden and abroad. Besides the nordic countries I have been to Hong Kong for the Swedish partnership in one of the biggest design conferences in the world – BODW – Business of Design Week. I was invited among the honored guests and participated also as one of the moderators; I was responsible for the sustainable design session with keynotes from Catarina Midby and Margareta van den Bosch from H&M, Hans Hassle from Plantagon, Kristoffer Hansén from Scania and C.L. Lam from Hong Kong based Green and Associates. The whole week gathered around two hundred swedes in Hong Kong and BODW had about 100.000 vistors. It was a huge success! Thank you General Consulate of Sweden and Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Read more about the Swedish partnership at www.bodw.com and www.sweden-livingdesign.com

I am also proud to tell that I am member of the board at Form/Design Center in Malmö since one year. During 2014 opened up to work in the Malmö-Öresund region. It is one of the most interesting and dynamic regions in Europe right now; a hot spot for design and creativity. I am very happy that we grasped this opportunity to live and work at another place, it is very inspiring and enriching. This doesn’t mean that the studio in Västervik is closed, I have kept my office and workshop there as well. At the moment we have a house in Västervik and a flat in Malmö.

Since beginning of 2015 I am more in Västervik again. The reason is that I had a new born that arrived in February! I have also accepted an offer from the municipality of Västervik to work half-time as project manager for urban development projects. It is very interesting and I learn a lot from being involved into these contexts. I can contribute with new perspectives, and I can have use from my skills within creativity management, design processes and sustainability. It is a lot about adding methods for co-creation and to enhance the dialogue and communication within urban planning projects. It is a lot of interesting projects going on. So far I have led the work for a new street and I am working right now on a square.

There has been so much happening so I can not write about it all here. As the last thing I will just briefly inform you a bit what is going on with me and Iceland. I have been there many times now, and the visits has become more often. During 2014 Design March I was a part of a group who exhibited the results from a design initiative in Utah, USA. We focused on design for Small Communities. We also held a seminar and a workshop in Hannesarholt in Reykjavik. It is an initiative from the group Designers & Forests where I am one of the co-founders, established in 2013. We were starting up an dialogue on how design can be used as a method and a process for sustainable development. We presented the work process that we have developed; EXPLORE-REFLECT-RESPOND. All the participants on the seminar was invited to take part in some exercises that we had prepared. This initiative will be followed by other projects with a similar approach; next one starts now in end of July and beginning of August 2015 in the forests and communities of upper State of New York. More info www.designersandforests.us

Anyhow, it was Iceland I was about to tell more about. Since 2014 I have two new commissions connected to Iceland. One of them is to develop a couple of new series of lamps for a lamp company. I am working on this with my dear friend and colleague Kristjan Kristjansson who is a Lighting Designer and lives in Reykjavik. During Design March 2015 we were exhibiting the prototype af a new lamp – the Puzzle lamp. It will soon be out on the market. We also showed the conceptual Hollow lamp that is very much appreciated and we have got a lot of attention from. More info about the lamp designs will come during fall 2015.

The main project that I am working on in Iceland is Afangastadurinn Austurland – Destination Austurland. It is a destination design project where eight municipalities in east Iceland have agreed on collaboration for developing a common destination platform. Austurland is the region of esat Iceland. It is a spectacular region. Fantastic nature, fjords, wildlife, culture, a lot to see and do and very nice people. I am very happy to be involved in this initiative. The tourism is one of the new primary industries of Iceland, and a lot of effort is being put into the sector in national contexts. Austurland is now one of the regions who takes the lead are pioneers in many ways. The focus for the initiative is to strengthen the attractiveness and competiveness of the destination, and to create a framework for long term, sustainable and profitable growth for the tourism industry. The focus is also on regional development, and on the well-being of communities and residents. The initiative intends to establish a community movement and a framework for destination development. Everyone are invited to get involved. Methods being used aims for co-creation, dialogue and communication throughout the whole process. Áfangastaðurinn Austurland is initiated by FAUST – Ferðamálasamtök Austurlands, and run by Austurbrú.

As I already said, it is hard to update about everything that is going on. This is enough for now. I promise that next blogpost will come soon.

 

Categories: All, Community design, Design, Design Management, Event, Meeting

Design that engage people and develop communities – that was the heading when Daniel Byström from DBD/Design Nation was invited as key note speaker at Business Swedens event; Scandinavian Light and Design in Vienna November 7th 2013. Arranged together with the Swedish and Norwegian Embassies. About 500 registered guests was attending the event that was held in fantastic Semperdepot – Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. The guests was architects, designers, purchasers. Among the other speakers were norwegian designer Vibeke Skar and  Sweden’s Ambassador to the United States 2007-2013 Jonas Hafström. Participating exhibitors was Swedish and Norwegian producers of furnitures and lightnings.

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Except of showing the characteristics of nordic design aesthetics, Daniel talked about our way of design thinking, the reasons and methods when working in design processes. He explained what community design is about, and how it always must be a sustainability focus in several layers in every design project. In his role as chairman of the Swedish Association of Designers, Daniel also showcased good design examples from contributed from Swedish design studios. There were 65 examples containing everything from sustainable products, concepts, fashion, graphic designs, packaging, services. The speak was focusing on the question – What can design do?  The question isn’t what design is, but what design can do. Designers are practitioners of an applied process of creative skills; researching, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing and then conceptualizing, testing and communicating solutions. We live in a world full of opportunities. Design can be used to connect to people, engage and develop communities and regions. How do we utilize the creativity of the community? How do we create shared visions? How do we make real sustainable products and environments?

Categories: All, Creativity, Design, Event, Meeting

This summer I will participate in Designers & Forest from July 29 – August 10 in Utah, USA. Designers and Forest will initiate a conversation surrounding problems currently facing the Western United States forest and specifically the forests of Utah.

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Who we are: Designers and Forests is a group of invested and interested individuals from around the world and is growing. The forests of the world are connected through climate, international trade, and governmental policies. Through similar traditions of forestry, agriculture, and craft. We feel that our experiences working with and handling forests should also be connected. The founding members of the group are composed of individuals from the United States, (New York, Utah) and Sweden. We are educators, designers, foresters, scientists, storytellers, community organizers, and students.

Who we seek: The project is seeking interested individuals from various backgrounds who wish to join our conversation about forest and community health. We are educators, graphic designers, furniture designers, foresters, and community activists. We seek collaborators, designers, and artisans who are interested in exploring new materials or old materials in new ways. We seek scientists and foresters who can inform and educate about pest, weaknesses, and forest health. We seek community members who are looking for alternative means to traditional economies. We seek storytellers who can share the narratives that bind us to places and teach us lessons from the past.

When it will happen: During the summer of 2013 we will assemble as a small group in the forest and rural communities of Utah to begin the conversation. This event will take place July 29-August 10, 2013 and will include workshops, seminars, and site visits. During these two weeks individuals will meet to define the parameters of the project. Expertise and knowledge will be shared. A solid plan for continued collaboration will be fleshed out.

Interested individuals are encouraged to contact the project organizers directly by email: info@designersandforest.us or daniel@bystromdesign.se. You can also follow the project and read more about it at www.designersandforest.us

designers and forest flyer

Categories: Creativity, Design, Event, Meeting

On the 21 of september Sveriges Designer held the conference Design Action in Pukeberg, Nybro – DesignAction 2012. It was a very inspiring day with 140 participants and great speakers! Read more about the conference and watch the videos from the day at www.designaction.se.

The purpose of the conference was to bring together key individuals in Swedish business; design expertise, manufactures, design buyers and organizations – with focus on increasing our understanding of how design efforts can create more innovation, higher level of customer satisfaction and better growth. The conference were planned within the national program for the creative industries and Vinnova’s program “Innovation and Design” to encourage innovation, entrepreneurship and growth in Sweden.

As the chairman of the board for Sveriges Designer I am very satisfied with the result. It has been a lot of work though, where I was involved in all parts and responsible for the planning and making of the conference. Very well – now remains only the summary and report. It will be interesting to analyze the reflections that were given from the audience during the day! I will come back with more information.

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Key note speaker Magnus Lindkvist on stage. A really great speaker!!

Categories: All, Creativity, Design, Event, Meeting

Close before the holidays I just need to write a review from the Generator Conference held in Norrköping 15th and 16th of November. The conference was arranged by Generator Sweden. For the last four years Generator has gathered regional stakeholders at a two-day conference on how Swedish regions can benefit from and support the development of cultural and creative industries.

I was participating on the conference representing The Swedish Association of Designers. Everything were great – the speakers, the facilities at Louis DeGeer, the entertainment, the food and the meetings. My impressions in between is how marginalized design becomes within the discussions on creative and cultural industries, though design really has a vital and catalyzing role to play and should be one of the corner stones to build on.

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Swedish musician Jepson from The Ark

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Lighting designer Kai Piippo

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Pier Luigi Sacco

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Dinner and entertainment in Värmekyrkan…

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…and after that – party with live Jazz in the bookshop!
Happiest in the photo – Johanna Skantze and Anna Linton ;)

Categories: All, Creativity, Design, Event, Meeting

Just before the easter, I contributed in this Phorecast Session – Work Life in 2022 at Almega in Stockholm. The mission was ordered by Almega, Saco and Unionen, aiming to get input to the cooperation for the Swedish service sector - Tjänstesektorns samarbetsavtal. The participants were handpicked and I was one of them. We were divided into three teams, and we worked for three days. My team mates was Eva Ribbenhall and Lars Lundqvist. Very nice and skilled people! It seems we made a good team, since we after the presentations were designated from the jury as the winners! As a part of price we were invited to come back and present our scenario once again – this time for the leadership board of Tjänstesektorns samarbetsavtal. Very honoring…

Here is a pic of all of the participants.

I travel a lot, my clients are spread all over. But mostly to Stockholm, it is a very design intensive region where a lot happens. And because I am engaged in the Swedish Association of Designers I try to attend to important events and meetings. It is quite a lot interesting in the pipe line ahead. Next year Helsinki is World Design Capital 2012, and I last friday I met the committee from Finland at Svensk Form, exploring how we can collaborate more. Also I work close to SVID – Swedish Industrial Design Foundation, right now with a very exciting project –  I tell you more later…

Well – that’s about it at the moment… besides I am also on parental leave allowing me to spend more time together with my son. He is one year old now – time flies!!

Categories: All, Creativity, Design, Design Management, Event, Meeting

So, I went back to Copenhagen last week. This time representing Nässjö Träcentrum in the project Creative Communities. The project is about developing the design related businesses and educations on east Iceland. Very exiting! I met a group of five very nice women from Iceland who are involved in and managing the project, and our excellent hosts for the week Axel Andreas Beck and Peter Koppel from Vaeksthus Copenhagen.

The program was really interesting with a lot of learning and time to share experiences. We made field trips to, among other, Seidenfaden Design, CPH Design, Danish Crafts, Danish Design Centre and Designers Zoo. Also we got educated in  board work, mentorship and the business development tool Vaeksthjulet. As we had all these scandinavian/nordic friends gathered,  I invited Steinar from Danish Designers to help me inform about the Scandinavian Design Alliance that are in the pipeline.

The weather was icy cold but Copenhagen is still a very beautiful and interesting city, filled with top edge scandinavian design. Thank you all involved, for some very inspiring days. Specially to you, Peter and Axel, for putting together the program and taking care of us!

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Troels tells us the recipe for building a successful design company as Seidenfaden. It is a very impressing journey they have done.

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Lars Thøgersen shows the design thinking of CPH Design and their work, much from the aviation industry for Scandinavian Airlines.

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From the Crafts Collection at Danish Crafts

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Visit to Danish Design Center

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Karsten Lauritsen tells us more about Designers Zoo

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Some good examples of danish crafts and design from among others Anne Black and Ditte Fischer

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Happy Icelanders in a cold but beautiful Copenhagen

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One of the coolest stairs I have ever seen at HAY Copenhagen…

Categories: All, Creativity, Design, Event, Meeting

It is a lot of things going on right now. Last week I was in Denmark representing The Swedish Association of  Designers. I met my Scandinavian design colleagues from Danish Designers, NID and Grafill. We are working on SDA together – the Scandinavian Design Alliance, it will be a great cooperation between our organizations. I find it very motivating to work with this stuff…

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From left Jørgen Holo – NID, Rachel Troye – Grafill, Charlie Norrman – Svenska Tecknare, Daniel Byström – Sveriges designer, Søren Yran – NID, Steinar Mowatt Valade-Amland and Karen Blincoe – Danish Designers.

Next week I am heading back to Copenhagen to meet a group from Iceland. This time for the school where I work – Nässjö Träcentrum. The school is engaged in a project aiming to develop the design- and wood related education on Iceland. I find it a perfect opportunity to spread the word about SDA and get new contacts.

And at last – som inspiring pics from Stockholm Furniture Fair Feb 8-12 and from Denmark.

See ya… D

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Nice lamps…

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Sara Larsson – A2 Design

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Bolon

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Marit Stigsdotter – Belysningsbolaget/bsweden

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Francisco Gomez Paz & Paolo Rizzatto give us ”Hope”, Illums Bolighus

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Strøget

Categories: All, Creativity, Design Management, Event, Meeting

I just had two very inspiring and informative days. Yesterday we got a visit at Nässjö Träcentrum, the school where I teach, from Materialbiblioteket (The Library of materials in English). Björn Florman showed us exciting new materials and talked about the future trends. He had brought samples of plastics, fibres, fabrics, composites or various metals, and my students had the chance to be inspired and come up with creative thoughts and ideas for new applications. If you are in Stockholm, a visit to Materialbiblioteket is to recommend, situated in the same building as Konstfack at Telefonplan.

And today, I participated on Regiondagarna 2011 – a conference focusing on regional questions and development of the trade and industry. First I heard Karin Voltaire, representing Svenska Turistföreningen – the Swedish Association for Tourism. She presented the new Strategies for developing the Swedish Tourism Industry. I have heard and read a lot of it before, but I got more information and understanding now. Also there was a very good  speech from Cecilia Hermansson, senior economist at Swedbank. Sweden has managed to come out strong from the financial crisis and we are a role model for other countries. Regiondagarna was held in my own hometown Västervik at the beautiful environment at Gränsö Slott.

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Categories: All, Creativity, Design, Design Management, Event, Meeting

It has become a tradition. Every year at this point people from Swedish furniture industry meet up in the heart of Småland, in Lammhult for the annual Möbelriksdag – the Furniture Parliament. This year about 300 participants did show up deep into the dark Småland forest in the big entrance hall of Lammhults/Abstracta on January 4th, well done! Möbelrikstagen is arranged by Möbelriket – the Kingdom of Furniture – a trading region and a network of design and furniture companies from Småland. Möbelriket working together to highlight the unique design and furniture history from the region. To name just a few examples: Lammhults, Abstracta, Norrgavel, Bruno Mathsson, Källemo and Ikea.

Möbelriksdagen is a kick-start. Kind of a team building event and gathering of our strengths together to meet the new year. A lot of interesting subjects, as design export, destination building and good examples in how to build long term sustainable companies and products. The program was tight! About 60 speakers entered the stage. Among those Jens Spendrup representing Företagarna, Stefan Nilsson from Trendgruppen, Patric Åström – Stockholmsmässan, Lars Bülow – Materia, Johan Lindau – Blå Station, Tomas Carlzon – MD Ikea.

The day was both inspiring and informational and I met a lot of new and old friends and had a good time all in all!

Thank you Möbelriket – Johan Sjöberg and Anders Wisth!

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About 300 participants was attending Möbelriksdagen 2011

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My pal Stefan Nilsson – Trendgruppen on stage – speeding up the audience…

The trends forecasted by Stefan:
Made Here – Now (made unique right now)
Made Here – Location (made unique geographically)
Made Here – Time-concious (made with time perspective)
Made Here – By me (made with personal signer)

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Johan Lindau – Blå Station, together with Lars Bülow – Materia and the young designer Fredrik Färg